Friday, November 29, 2013

When will Roscoe come home?

A common question that Alisha and I get asked is one that we wonder ourselves: "When will Roscoe get to come home with us?". There was a list of requirements in the NICU lobby, so Alisha snapped this picture of it so we'd remember all of the goals he'll have to achieve. I don't know how they expect him to meet these goals when nobody has told him about them and when he can't even read them himself. I guess we'll have to count on God to get him there:

Here are some details about how Roscoe currently measures up:

For those like us who aren't familiar with medical terms, the "apnea or bradycardia" means that Roscoe can't have any heartbeat drops or breathing problems for an entire week. Currently he has a handful of drops each day.

Roscoe is on ~30% oxygen and will need to get back down to only 21% oxygen (normal room air), or we may go home with Roscoe on oxyen.

Roscoe is doing well on in maintaining his own body temperature, so we are confident he'll be able to keep himself warm when the other conditions are met.

For the 4-pound requirement, he is currently at 2lb 14oz, which leaves only 18oz left to go. To get him home by Christmas eve (his due date) he'll have to grow an average of almost an ounce per day.

He has met that 35-week gestational age requirement. Check that one off the list!

Roscoe hasn't started feeding yet, but the nurses said that will be his next big hurdle after getting his breathing stabilized. Roscoe will need to suck, swallow, and breathe all at the same time which may be complicated for him since he hasn't done that yet.

So there you go! I'll try and keep everyone updated when Roscoe meets one of these milestones. We are excited to bring him home, whenever will be the right time to do so.